Nokero has made a bit of a name for itself in marketing and selling environmentally friendly solar-based technologies such as solar lights and solar battery chargers. It is now introducing what it says is the most affordable solar light bulb in the world, and it is aimed at emerging markets.

Are all hybrids created equally? Certainly not, especially when you consider how many of them have overall ownership costs which are now considered lower than their all gas counterparts. That’s one of the main takeaways from recent research data released by Vincentric around this topic.

Researchers report that wood-biochar supercapacitors can produce as much power as today’s activated-carbon supercapacitors at a fraction of the cost – and with environmentally friendly byproducts. The report appears in the journal Electrochimica Acta.

The forthcoming McLaren P1 hybrid supercar, which debuted earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show, is set to be a demon on the roads. With only 375 units planned for production, it will also command a high price tag of over $1 million, which demands of course amazing performance figures.

As we reported just yesterday, wind power has hit a bit of a rough patch, with first-half-of-year installations down for the third year in a row. But don’t look for this trend to last very long, says the International Energy Agency.

If you happened today to be outside of London’s Design Museum, you might have noticed a curious sight – an aquaponics ecosystem powered by a fuel cell vehicle from Hyundai. Known as the Fuel Cell Farm, it was a one day “piece of design theatre” aiming to educate people about the real-life benefits of hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

Toyota last week priced out two of its 2014 hybrid offerings as it continues to look to dominate the category. The pricing for the most part for the Avalon Hybrid and Prius trims remains the same, likely reflecting a desire to continue to bring in through the door more consumers wanting to buy a hybrid from the Japanese automaker.

Traffic-related air pollution is increasingly shown to have negative health effects according to a growing body of epidemiologic evidence and is a substantial public health concern in Canada, argues a commentary published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Most solar cells used in homes and industry are made using thick layers of material to absorb sunlight, but have been limited in the past by relatively high costs. Many new, lower cost designs are limited as their layer of light-absorbing material is too thin to extract enough energy.

Volvo seems to want to be on the cutting edge of electric vehicle research, despite the fact it doesn’t have that much in the way of actual green car offerings as of yet. It’s already been involved in a project that puts power lines in roads to consistently charge EVs passing overhead, and now it is tinkering with energy storage built directly into car panels.

Honda luxury brand Acura is now in the second year of production of its more entry level ILX sedan, which is based upon the Honda Civic platform. It is also the second year of a hybrid offering for this model, and it has just been released to Acura showrooms for a starting price of $28,900.

Back-up batteries and solar chargers are fine, but if you’re in a real emergency where phone power is a must, both can be cumbersome and time-consuming. A new gadget on Kickstarter clears through the clutter and puts the power back in your hands–literally.

Scientists have created a heat-resistant thermal emitter that could significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells. The novel component is designed to convert heat from the sun into infrared light, which can than be absorbed by solar cells to make electricity – a technology known as thermophotovoltaics.

Let’s take a brief moment to travel back in the hybrid time machine to 2010. In late March of that year, Mazda announced it was licensing hybrid technology from Toyota to develop its own hybrid offering, which would likely see the light of day in Japan in 2013.

Mitsubishi Motors, ahead of the upcoming 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, announced plans to showcase at that event two new plug-in hybrid concepts. The automaker to date has mostly been a footnote in the evolving low carbon transportation market, so it will be interesting to see specifics of what these concepts offer as a clue into future green vehicle development.